New Heroes, New Fates
by Ralphrius
Summary: 5 years after the exploits of the characters we all know and love, a new group of heroes arise. Yes, it's an OC-fic. Bite me.
1. Chapter 1: First Monster, Last Attack

**Author's notes**

English is not my first language. However, it is my second, so I just hope you don't mind some weird sentences or grammatical/spelling errors now and then.f

Also, I'm far from finished watching Yu Gi Oh GX, but I'll try my hardest to make everything I write seem correct in canon.

Card chronology may not be 100% right, but seriously, adding in 5D's cards can make it that much more fun. Also, quite a lot of cards will be made up by me. That's fun, try it out.

Thanks for reading!

PS: Yes, I'm fully aware that the title is lame.

**Chapter 1: First Monster, Last Attack**

Alec Haven looked out of the boat window. Duel Academia was in sight. The 16-year old boy leaned backwards on his chair a little. The boat was just a small level below that of a cruise-ship, but the teenagers who were about to start their first year in Duel Academia enjoyed the fullest of luxury.

He was already wearing his Ra Yellow uniform: it was sent to him three weeks ago, together with his boat ticket and official ID as a member of the academy. As he looked around him, he saw people who, like him, already wore the colored coats, but also people who refused this, wearing their own clothes, as was made popular by people like Manjoume "Thunder" Jun. Duel Academia decided to officially allow this, as long as these people still wore their dorm's badge.

Bored out of his skull, Alec decided to walk up to some other new students to chat. There were two of them. A girl with brown hair wearing the Osiris Red badge, and a tall, Asian boy who wore his Osiris Red coat as if it were some kind of cape.  
"Hey." Alec muttered. He never really was the type to start a conversation.  
The boy and girl looked at him. The boy said:

"Ra Yellow? Wouldn't you rather talk with people from your dorm?"

Alec replied. "I never was one for ranks and all."

The girl shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Alec Haven." Alec said.

"What?" The boy replied.

"My name."

"Ah." The boy replied. "I'm Yasutaka Masaki. Just call me Masaki."

"And I'm Lea de Vries."

Alec noted. "Exotic names."

"Masaki here's Japanese. I'm Dutch. I take it you're American?"

"Yessir."

Duel Academia was still known as the most prestigious of all Duelling schools. Two years ago, they decided to hold entrance exams over the entire world, so the greatest talent of all Duel Monsters players would be found right here. Unfair competition? Maybe. But it made for a diverse list of students.

Alec tried to keep the conversation alive. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

Lea said: "We were talking about what kinds of Decks we play. Deck building got interesting these years. There's so many different archetypes!"

Alec smiled. "Well, what kind of Deck do you guys play, then?"

Masaki whipped out his deck: It was about 80 cards!

"Eighty cards?!"  
Alec couldn't think of a strategy that would fit in 80 cards: there'd be too many cards and you'd never get all the cards you need to finish your combos.

Masaki grinned proudly.  
"Darksea. The cards center around drawing more and more cards. I'll show it to you guys one day. Lea, show him your deck. Yours rules too."

Lea took that cue with pride.

"I play with a Time Travel Deck. A monster-type, Chrononauts, can be Normal Summoned from the Deck with the correct tributes. Always. And that's not counting my spells and traps."

Alec looked through her deck. "Whoa, that IS a nice deck!"

Lea snickered. "Want to play against it? Actions speak louder than words, as you know. And then, we instantly know your deck, too!"

Masaki was all for it. "Great idea! There's Duel Fields on the deck!"

Alec was a little surprised by the idea. "Do we have time for this?"

Masaki waved the problem away. "It's still half an hour until the boat enters the academy. It's not even moving right now. Extra time so everyone gets to know each other."

Alec realized he couldn't talk himself out of this, so he followed Masaki and Lea to a Field. There were Duel Disks being borrowed out. It's a miracle they were vacant. The Duel Fields were right in the middle of the deck, so they were treated with the sun, the bright blue sky, and bystanders to watch the duel.

**Duel: Alec VS Lea**

**Lifepoints: 4000**

Lea called the first turn. "Let's take out a Chrononaut immediately! I sacrifice 500 Life Points to Normal Summon Chrononaut Quattor from my Deck!"

After sacrificing her Life Points, a card popped out of her deck, and she summoned it out on the field. A woman wearing futuristic clothing, a gun, and a visor appeared on the field.

(Chrononaut Quattor: 1500 ATK, 1700 DEF)

**(Alec: 4000/Lea: 3500)**

Also, I'll set a card. That'll do for now.

Alec's turn was next. "So, you want to see what kind of deck I have? Well, you'll see. I Summon Armed Hero Crimson Flame!"

Masaki interrupted.  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. A _Hero _deck? Seriously? Sure, it was cool when Yuki Judai played one, and the Destiny Heroes had their sort of charm, too, but after a while, the Heroes kinda grew dated, man. We've got Legend Heroes, Armed Heroes, Shadow Heroes, Anti Heroes, need me to say more?"

Alec snickered. "You obviously don't know about the Hero Link strategy, do you?"

Masaki shook his head. "Heroes never were my cup of tea, and these days, they're just plain silly."

Alec continued.  
"Well, maybe one day you'll see it in action. But right now, I'll be satisfied using only Armed Heroes. As I said, I summon Armed Hero Crimson Flame!" A man, armed in red plastic-like armor entered the fight.

It was obvious Armed Heroes were modeled after old Super Sentai/Power Rangers characters, and that didn't help make it look more intimidating. As Masaki said, it looked kinda silly.

(Armed Hero Crimson Flame: 1700 ATK, 500 DEF)

"Now, Crimson Flame, attack!"

Crimson Flame jumped towards the Chrononaut with his trademark Burning Flare Kick!

"Not if I can help it!" Lea activated her Quick-Play spell card: Book of Moon.

"Book of Moon allows me to-"

"Yeah yeah, flip a monster in face down defense position. We get it." Alec didn't like useless exposition speeches.

Lea continued: "Anyway, I flip my Chrononaut Quattor in Defense!"

The attack and defense were equal, so the attack was useless.

"Good one." Alec noted. "I'll set two cards, and end my turn."

Lea smiled. Not kindly, though. "I have you right where I want you. My turn!" After drawing a card, she immediately activated a Spell Card.

"I activate Double Summon, allowing me to Normal Summon twice this turn!"

Alec knew that this could end very bad for him.

"First, I'll summon Chrononaut Unus from my hand!" A small, filthy child with a visor similar to Quattor appeared.

(Chrononaut Unus: 500 ATK, 500 DEF)

"Next, I throw away a Trap Card and sacrifice 1000 Life Points to be able to normal summon from my Deck one of my most powerful Chrononauts! His name is Chrononaut Viginti, and his Attack is equal to the amount of monsters tributed when he is summoned! And guess how many I'm going to tribute?"

Alec had exactly the response for this. "Oh... That's not good."

"That's right! Two!"

Her two Chrononauts disappeared in a flash of light. When the light was gone, Chrononaut Viginti was on the field.

The monster Lea summoned to the field was a large man, again in futuristic wear. His gun was about as large as his torso, and that meant it was very big.

(Chrononaut Viginti: 3000 ATK, 2500 DEF)

**(Alec: 4000/Lea: 2500)**

"Time to blow you away, Alec Haven!"

Lea ordered the attack command. Viginti fired his gun at Crimson Flame.

Now it was Alec's turn to smile. "I activate a Trap Card: Armed Backflip!"

Lea looked puzzled. "Not everyone studied Armed Heroes. What's it do?"

Alec explained: "Simple. Your attack is dodged. End of story."

Crimson Flame did an overly cheesy backflip and evaded the Chrononaut's blast.

Lea grumbled. "You won't survive forever with that weak monster, you know."

Alec grinned. "Oh, we'll see, Lea. We'll see. In fact, let's make a small bet!"

Masaki was enthusiastic: "Oooh, this is getting interesting!"

Lea: "What's the bet?"

Alec: "I'm going to win this duel. And the one hacking away your final Life Points will be Crimson Flame. If you win, I will pay you one booster pack, every month, for as long as we walk the halls of this school!"

Masaki noted: "He sure know how to bring it in a fancy way."

Lea stroked her hair in an arrogant, taunting way. "Very well, O, bringer of poetically described bets! It's your turn, so have fun with your Hero!"

Alec drew his next card. "Oh, I'll have fun alright. I summon Celtic Guardian!"  
(Celtic Guardian: 1400 ATK, 1200 DEF)

"We won't be looking at him long, though. I activate a Spell Card from my hand: Morphin' Time!"

Masaki felt the need to comment: "Why do your Armed Hero cards basically SCREAM "I'm cheesy!"?

Alec just said: "That's their appeal," and went on.  
"With Morphin' Time, I can Special Summon from my deck an Armed Hero with equal level to the one I just summoned!"

Mildly insulted, Lea said: "Oh, so now you're stealing my strategy?"

Alec, however, ignored her and summoned his next Armed Hero: Sapphire Current. A man wearing similar clothing to Crimson Flame appeared: However, this one was blue.

(Armed Hero Sapphire Current: 1500 ATK, 1500 DEF)

Obviously not intimidated, Lea let out a sarcastic "Whoop-tee-doo" while Alec ended his turn.

Lea drew her next card, and noted:

"Viginti's effect states that, while he's out on the field, I cannot summon any more Chrononauts. Them's the breaks. But now, I'll attack Crimson Flame with Viginti! Hope you brought enough money, 'cause there's quite a few booster packs waiting for you to pay!"

As Viginti readied his attack, Alec just smiled and said: "This duel is over, miss. I won."

Lea didn't understand. "What? I don't know if you noticed, but I'm winning over here."

Alec activated a Trap Card: Armed Rescue.

Masaki was interested. "What's it do?"

Alec explained. "It allows me to change Viginti's target to Sapphire Current!"  
Sapphire Current blocked the blast aimed at Crimson Flame. Sapphire didn't survive this blow, though.

**(Alec: 2500/Lea: 2500)**

Alec continued: "And with Sapphire Current destroyed, I can add one Spell Card from my deck to my hand!"

He took out his deck and searched for the card he wanted. Then he locked the deck back into the Disk. The auto-shuffler took care of the rest.

Lea was interested in seeing how this turned out. "Well, go on, then! It's your turn."

Alec just smiled, and then he drew his card. "Also, I just want to tell you Crimson Flame's effect. It gains 200 attack for every Armed Hero that has been defeated during battle while Crimson was on the field."

(Armed Hero Crimson Flame: 1900 ATK, 500 DEF)

"Now, I activate Unstable Evolution and equip it to my Crimson Flame!

From now on, if my Life Points are lower than yours, my Crimson Flame's Original Attack becomes 2300! However, if my Life Points are higher than yours, it goes down to 1000."

Lea noted: "But it's a tie. The Attack Points won't change."

Alec snickered: "And that's where my next card comes in. I activate another Spell Card: The Vengeful Heart!

If an attack target was changed to another monster on the same side of the field, by tributing half my life points, I can attack the opponent directly using that monster.

At the end of the turn, that monster will be destroyed, though.

Lea immediately looked surprised. "So, when you used Armed Rescue to change targets to Sapphire Current, Crimson Flame didn't get attacked, so now he can attack me directly through that Spell Card?"

Alec replied: "That's right. But first, I'll need to tribute half my Life Points."

**(Alec: 1250/Lea: 2500)**

Alec continued: "And I think you know what that means."

Lea, realizing she was going to lose, just said: "Unstable Evolution..."

"That's right! So now, my Crimson Flame has 2300 ATK, plus the 200 that come from Sapphire Current who got destroyed while Crimson was on the field, and that's a total of..."

(Armed Hero Crimson Flame: 2500 ATK, 500 DEF)

Masaki could utter only a single word. "Whoa."

"Now, Crimson Flame, Direct Attack!"

The Armed Hero acted out of pure rage, ignored the giant Chrononaut and went straight for the kill.

He finally had a chance to connect his Burning Flare Kick (now much more flashy and burny due to the attack boost), and hit Lea with all his holographic might.

Which, to an actual human, of course, wasn't very mighty at all.

**(Alec: 1250/Lea: 0)**

Lea lost. Alec and Masaki walked towards her. "You could have won this," Alec said.

Masaki thought about it for a while, then concluded "He's right, Lea. You could have won it if you attacked Sapphire Current instead of Crimson Flame. Alec wouldn't be able to activate The Vengeful Heart, and your Viginti would still be 1100 Attack Points stronger."

Alec continued Masaki's little lecture.  
"Duelling is part psychology. You need to be able to anticipate your opponent's next move. Or steer your opponent into a specific move..."

Lea understood. "The bet! By betting that your Crimson Flame would be the one to defeat me, you managed to manipulate me into attacking him instead of Sapphire Current! If I attacked Sapphire, your combo wouldn't work!"

Alec smiled. "Exactly. I guess you still need to learn a lot about dueling. But then again, that's why you got into Red, I guess."

Masaki and Lea both took that as an insult. "Hey!"

Alec laughed and shrugged his own insult off. "Just kidding. Tell you guys what, I'll buy both of you guys a booster once we get on the island."

Masaki didn't trust it. "Do we have to duel you for it?"

"Nah, no need."

The three burst out in laughter, even though it wasn't particulary funny. They were just happy they met each other.

Out of the crowd, the only person on the entire boat wearing an Obelisk Blue jacket walked away from the scene. The boy noted: "Armed Heroes, huh? Guess I'll need to think of a counter-strategy for those, then."

And with that notice, the boy walked into his cabin. With a little luck, his counter-strategy would be finished right on time for the opening ceremony...


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to Duel Academia!

**OHSHI- SNEAKY AUTHOR'S NOTE EDIT:**

Again, thanks for reading! No duels in this one, but this chapter basically sets the stage for the rest of the fic.

Reviews would be appreciated! :D

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Duel Academia**

It wasn't much later that the boat arrived at the Duel Academia harbor. The newly formed trio was seperated as the dormitories split up. Alec followed his Ra Yellow classmates to the large, seemingly comfortable Ra Yellow dorm. He saw that the Reds went their own way to the Osiris Red dorm, which looked rather shoddy, even after the academy recieved suitable funds to renovate that specific dorm.  
Well, at least it didn't resemble a high-level toolshed anymore.

The Ra Yellow dorm was basically a mansion. Alec and the rest could expect to live in luxury for the three years they'd be here. After a short speech by Kabayama, who was still the head teacher at Ra Yellow, all students sat down in the dining room for dinner. Actual lessons would start tomorrow.

The boy sitting next to Alec stomped him a little to get his attention.

"Think of the luxury Obelisk Blue people live in. They're probably ten times as better off as we are."

"That's saying something," Alec replied. "But I'd rather not think about what I don't have. I'm happy with this, to be honest."

"True, true. Hey, you were the Armed Hero duelist on the boat, right?"  
"Yeah."  
"It's nice meeting you! I'm Tyler. Tyler Leon."

Tyler had black hair and he seemed kind enough.  
"Nice meeting you too. I'm Alec Haven."

"Cool name. Anyhow, why were you duelling an Osiris Red? She insult you or something?"

"No, we were just having fun..."

Tyler burst out in laughter and affectionately hit Alec on the back.

"Having fun duelling an Osiris Red. Good one, man."

"It's kind of true. Very much true, actually."

"... I guess you actually mean it. How weird. I always had the idea Osiris Red duelists were the scum of the academy. They were probably placed in their dorm for a reason, you know?"

Another boy clapped his hands. "Well spoken, Mr. Leon! I wholeheartly agree!" The boy had a certain arrogance in his voice. He had blonde hair and everything about him, up to his expression, just screamed high-class. Obviously, this was the Obelisk Blue stereotype.

Alec didn't like him one bit. "And who might you be?"

"My name? It's Egbert-Jan van Warendorp-Bisschop."

Alec decided to try and provoke him. That way, he might be able to shut that guy's arrogant mouth.

"Ooh, fancy name. So, what are you, German?"

"It's Dutch, you philistine! The Dutch are a proud and high-class people! If it's Dutch, it's high-quality! Look it up on the student lists! Obelisk Blue houses 32 students from the Netherlands! If that's not quality, I don't know what is!"

"There's a Dutchy in Osiris Red."

Owch.

Alec hit him good with that argument. Suddenly, he completely froze up, unable to say another word, all the while being pressured by the people around him.

But he retaliated. He regained his composure and acted like nothing happened.

"Sure, we may have some bad apples in our people. Who doesn't?  
Anyhow, this brings me to the subject we discussed earlier:  
Osiris Red."

Tyler got intrigued. "Continue?"

"The Osiris Red duelists are more of a charity act than anything else. I don't know if anybody saw the entrance exams, but some were horribly done. Hell, it would have pained any true duelist to even _see _those duels."

"Really? Can you give me the lowdown on one?" Alec started to like this little verbal war.

"Well, there was one duel. The guy actually won, I'll give him credit for that, but he used an _Armed Hero _Deck. That's right. Armed Hero. Guess we have a next Yuki Judai. _Yaa-_"

His sarcastic little cheer was cut short when someone threw a Duel Monsters card in his face.

Egbert-Jan immediately looked at the card to see it was Armed Hero Crimson Flame.

"I don't like people making fun of my deck too much."

Egbert-Jan threw the card back and was shut up yet again. He didn't open his mouth the rest of the meal.

Alec stated his mind about Osiris Red.  
"The entrance exams are lightly flawed.

For all we know, some students didn't get the cards they needed at that specific moment. A written exam might've been better for dorm selections.

You might face some shame if you were degraded TO the Reds, but from Osiris Red, things can only get better for you."

Tyler, easily convinced, concurred. "I... guess you're right."

After dinner, Tyler and Alec decided to hang around the nearby lake.

Tyler couldn't resist to ask. "Uh, Alec?"

"Yeah?"

"I remembered your duel with that Osiris Red girl, with the bet and everything which made you win. And now, with that Dutch guy you told off... It appears you have some sort of knack for psychology and everything. You keep manipulating people into some sort of clever trap you devised, it seems. It's kind of creepy."

Alec never thought of it as manipulation, but now Tyler told him, it was about right of a description. "I'll admit that I know my way with words. My parents are both in the psychology business, so they taught me quite a lot about human nature. I guess tagging along with them sometimes made me pick up some tools of the trade or something?"  
"You mean psychologists do the same manipulating thing?"  
"To be honest, I have no idea."

When Masaki and Lea split up from Alec, they were soon lead to the Osiris Red dorm, which wasn't much to look at. Sure, it was better than it looked like in the pictures from a few years ago, but it was still miles away from Ra Yellow luxury.

All the Reds grouped up in the dorm's cafetaria. After Judai's graduation, he left the academy, and took with him Osiris Red's beloved headmaster: the proud cat Pharaoh.

For a dorm run by a cat, Osiris Red went through a few nice years, and the new headmaster did a perfectly nice job of holding everything together.

"Well, I bet Alec's got it nicer," Masaki noted.

"No use moping on what Mister Armed Hero's got."

Suddenly, someone from the table behind them leaned towards them. It was another girl.

"You got defeated by that Ra Yellow guy, didn't you? I guess what I've heard from the upperclassmen was true, Yellow and Blue got it in for us. They'll never miss a chance to humiliate us."

Masaki didn't quite catch on. "What are you talking about? On that note, who are you?"

The girl introduced herself. "I'm Rina. But, what do you mean? Didn't that Ra Yellow guy go around and pick a fight?"  
Lea admitted. "Actually, I challenged him. We were just having fun!"

Rina decided she needed to repeat this out loud for the whole cafetaria to hear.

"YOU WERE DUELLING FOR FUN WITH A YELLOW?!"

All of Osiris Red was in shock. Whispers were heard, and glares were made. Eventually, the duo decided it'd be best if they just left.

Masaki was surprised by what happened. "Is is so strange for a Red to duel a Yellow for fun?"

"Apperently, it is. Weird stuff," Lea said.

It was getting late, so they decided to go to bed. The opening ceremony was tomorrow, after all.

A voice was booming through the hallways.

"Meanwhile, at the Obelisk Blue Dorm!"

This voice belonged to Kyle Mason, Obelisk Blue second-years. He usually said something like that to fill awkward silences. He was in the room together with this year's only Obelisk Blue first-year, Randall Gainsworth.

"You could try acting more like you should, considering your rank, Kyle."

"Listen, Randall. I'm not going to be told off by a first-year like you."  
"The fact that a first-year is telling you to behave only emphasizes my point."

Kyle didn't know what to say back now. He decided to change the subject.

"By the way, how'd you make it into Obelisk Blue? It's been decided two years ago that there would be no first-year Obelisk Blues at all, not because of previous education, not because of outstanding examination results, not because of anything. So yeah, how did you get in here?"

"Easy. I'm not in Obelisk Blue."

Kyle didn't believe he was hearing.

"WHAT?! I shared my room with a bloody Red?! How the hell did you get our coat?"  
"Don't make it sound that harsh, I'm Yellow."

"That changes nothing! If the teachers find out, I'm screwed! And we won't be seeing you here anymore!"

"Calm down! It won't be long before I'm in here legally, anyway. Tomorrow's the opening ceremony. The best of the exams get to go to Blue."

"Nice privilege. But that leaves the question, how the hell did you get the coat?"

"That was an easy color job."

Randall scrubbed on his coat for a while, and voila, a faint yellow color could be seen on the inside of his coat.

Kyle started talking more softly.

"Listen, Randall. You're a nice guy and all, even a little stuck-up so you fit right in here..."  
"Hey!"  
"... But discrimination between the three dorms has been a huge problem for the last few years. Many of the Reds can't stand the Blues and Yellows, a lot of the Yellows look down on the Reds and think the Blues are way too arrogant, and almost all of the Blues look down on both the other dorms. Bullying is quite a problem. Hell, it's a miracle this hasn't turned into some sort of dorm-war yet."

Randall thought about that for a while. After this, he decided: "I think it's better for me to go to the Yellow dorm. We'll talk later, when I'm actually supposed to be here."

Kyle agreed with that.

"You'd better go through the window. If you walk around the dorm too much, people might recognize you tomorrow, and that'd be bad for your rep."  
"Got it."

Randall opened the door to the balcony, ready to climb down.

"Oh, Randall!"

"Yeah?"  
"You'd better just leave the coat here and just stick to the badge. This blue color won't be getting off anytime soon."

"Good point. It's freezing out here, but I don't have much choice."

And with that, the boy ran into the dark night towards the Yellow dorm. Kyle's story on the dorm-discrimination echoed through his mind, but it wasn't time for that. Tomorrow was the decisive duel, and he still needed to re-check his strategies.


	3. Chapter 3: Nuclear Monster

**Author's Notes:**

_I was aiming for a once-per-week updating schedule, but I missed last week. I'm terribly sorry for that, and I'll try to do better with this schedule from now on. Thanks for reading!_

_Also special thanks to YamiRuss who pointed out a few mistakes in the Duel I didn't notice myself!_

**Chapter 3: Nuclear Monster**

Masaki checked his watch. 9:55. The opening ceremony would begin in five minutes. All students of the school were gathered in the school's largest Duel Arena for the opening ceremony. Masaki and Lea decided to sit next to each other. As expected, the audience could be divided in three parts, one for every dorm.

Masaki and Lea looked around, but they didn't see Alec anywhere. They concluded they couldn't spot him between all those Yellow-people, seeing as there were a lot of them. Four minutes later, it was 10 AM. The ceremony was about to begin.

Principal Samejima entered the center of the dome and started his speech. It was as everyone would expect it to be, "May all of you end up fine duelists!" blah, blah, blah.

But after this speech, he began talking about something far more interesting.

"As you all know, access to the Obelisk Blue dorm from the beginning has become completely impossible the past few years. After a lot of discussion with the other teachers and administartors, we have decided to grant one student access to the dorm from the get-go. For this, we have picked out the two students who performed best at the entrance exams. This is an experiment put together by us to see if we really need to block access of the Obelisk Blue dorm for new entrees."

The audience applauded.

"Now now, don't applaud for me, applaud for these skilled duelists instead!"

The two duelists opposing each other entered the field. On the one side was Randall Gainsworth. As he entered, whispers from the Obelisk Blue dorm could be heard.

"I think I've seen him somewhere before..."

"Wasn't he in Blue already...?"

"Did that guy scam us?"

Randall ignored these whispers and kept marching on, his eyes focused on his opponent, Alec Haven.

"Alec?!" Masaki didn't believe what he saw. "That's impossible!"

Lea responded. "Why would it be? You know as well as I do that he's a great duelist."

"True, but I didn't expect him to be THAT good."

As the two of them stood on opposing sides of the field, Samejima left with the words: "The Duel begins now. Both of you, please do your best!"

Randall and Alec engaged in a small conversation.

"And here we are, Haven. Opposing each other in a duel for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let's make it a nice duel."

"Agreed, Randall. We'll see who's the better of us!

After hearing the names, Samejima suddenly realized that he hadn't introduced them yet. He quickly did so, but this raised another question. As Masaki noted:

"Wait, those two KNOW each other?"

Without dwelling on the question much, the two of them started to duel.

**Duel: Alec VS Randall**

**Lifepoints: 4000**

Randall: "Ladies first."

A collective "OOOOOOOH" could be heard.

But nothing happened.

Randall: "Aren't you going to draw or something?"  
Alec: "I thought you called first turn?"

A collective "OOOOOOOH" could be heard.

Randall gave in. "Very well. Draw!"

Right from the get-go, Randall opened up his Field Spell drawer and sticked a card in it.

"I activate... Skyscraper!"

"Elemental Heroes? Wow, you're really old-school, aren't you?"

Randall just laughed. "Oh, you won't be seeing any Elemental Heroes today, Haven."

And with those words, Randall proceeded to summon his first monster.

"I summon Nuclear Monster: Lizard!"

As he placed his card on the monster slot, a giant lizard/dinosaur-like beast entered the battlefield, reducing the Skyscraper city down to a large pile of rubble.

(Nuclear Monster: Lizard: 1700 ATK, 2000 DEF)

"When Skyscraper is on the field when I summon this monster, I can destroy it and replace it with this card from my hand, deck or graveyard: Skyscraper 3: Monster Battlefield!"

With those words, Randall replaced his Field Spell with the one popping out of his deck. Immediately, skyscrapers fell down, and the city turned into some sort of wasteland.

Alec realized that this was starting to get dangerous. Nuclear Monsters were a perfect counter-type for duelling Armed Heroes. No doubt Randall saw his duel with Lea and built a deck based on defeating Alec's Armed Hero strategy.

He decided to run through everything he knew about Nuclear Monsters.

Nuclear Monsters had the ability to disable the activation of any Trap and Spell cards when they attacked, much like Ancient Gear monsters. Armed Heroes got their power from these Trap Cards, allowing them to sacrifice themselves for other monsters, avoid the attack altogether, and more. What made matters worse was that their Attack and Defense was always very high, even for their low-level monsters.

And then there's the Field Spell Randall conveniently set in place. Skyscraper 3. All Nuclear Monsters gain 500 ATK, and if another monster attacked a Nuclear Monster, they had to flip a coin. If the result was heads, the attacking monster would lose 500 attack.

(Nuclear Monster: Lizard: 2300 ATK, 2000 DEF)

Alec could see that this might actually get challenging.

After setting the stage, Randall ended his turn.

Alec drew his card, oversaw his hand, and made his decision.

"I set three cards, and summon Armed Hero Green Protector!"

And with those words, the new Armed Hero entered the stage. As was to be expected, it looked almost identical to the other two, with the exception of a palette swap.

(Armed Hero Green Protector: 1300 ATK, 1700 DEF)

"And I end my turn."

Randall grinned. "That's your defense? A silly little action figure? I draw!"

Alec immediately replied "I activate my Trap Card: Motorcycle of Arms!"

Next to Green, a motorcycle appeared, in his color and everything.

"When I activate this card, I can equip it to an Armed Hero. Now, once per turn, if Green Protector would be destroyed by battle, it will not!"

"A futile defense, Haven! Because if I summon my second monster, your monster will be wide open! I summon Nuclear Monster: Hercules Beetle!"

Another giant monster appeared, this one looking more like a giant hercules beetle, surprise surprise.

(Nuclear Monster: Hercules Beetle: 2100 ATK, 1600 DEF)

"Then I activate my Trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole! This sents your monster right to the removed from play zone!"

"What!? Why would you revert to such cheap tactics?"

"Actually, I always wondered why nobody else does."

A trap hole appeared under Hercules Beetle, throwing him into eternal void.

"... That's a good point. Anyhow, even though Green Protector won't die, you'll still take Battle Damage! So, Lizard, attack!"

As were the rules of Skyscraper 3, a coin was tossed. The result was in Randall's favor, and for the battle, Green lost 500 ATK.

The giant lizard fired a giant blast of energy from his mouth. Green Protector managed to dodge the blow, but Alec still took a heavy blow.

**(Alec: 2500/Randall: 4000)**

"And thus endeth mine turn."

Alec knew he had to draw a card able to destroy that Nuclear Monster, or else he'd be in big trouble.

After he drew his card, he noticed he was in luck.  
"I activate Fissure!"

"Another one of those cheap cards of yours! Fine, I'll destroy my monster with lowest ATK. And seeing that there's only one on my field, I guess I have to say bye to my Lizard."

A trap hole appeared under Lizard, too, and the monster disappeared. Now, the path was open for a direct hit.

Masaki couldn't resist. "Looks like Alec's deck is full of holes!" Lea hit him for this terrible cringe-worthy pun.

"And now for my next trick! I summon Legend Hero Armor Protector!"

A giant medieval knight filled to the brim with armor and shields, yet no weapon, appeared on the field.

(Legend Hero Armor Protector: 0 ATK, 2500 DEF)

He immediately crouched, shields in front of him.

"When he is summoned, I can set him in Defense Position."

Randall couldn't believe this. "What's another Hero type doing in an Armed Hero deck?!"

"This isn't an Armed Hero deck. It's Hero Link."

"Alec, what the hell is Hero Link?!"

At that point, Randall just screamed out what everybody in the arena was thinking.

Alec couldn't believe this.

It's true that the Hero archetypes were quite infamous after there being so much of them, but this was ridiculous. Nobody's ever heard of this powerful strategy? Man, Duel Monsters advertising works in mysterious ways.

"Fine, I'll show you all what Hero Link can do! Reverse card open: Crossover!"

Alec's final set card showed itself. "This card allows me to fuse two monsters, each from a different Hero archetype, to summon monsters from the Hero Link archetype!"

Randall just looked at what was happening, completely flabbergasted.

Alec continued. "I summon Hero Link: Master Protector!"

(Hero Link: Master Protector: 0 ATK, ? DEF

Fusion Material: Two separate monsters who both have the words "Hero" and "Protector" in their names)

"_This _is the true power of the Hero Link, Randall! Anyone can make a deck consisting of a Hero archetype, but with Hero Link, you'll be pushed in having at least three different kinds of heroes at the ready!"

Randall quickly regained his cool and said: "Well, that's all fine and dandy, but what does this monster do?"

"This monster's Defense Points and effects are equal to the Defense Points and Effects of the Fusion Material monsters! That means that my Protector is set directly to Defense Mode, and gains 2500 + 1700 Defense! That's 4200 Defense points! On top of that, he can't be destroyed by battle!"

Master Protector immediately crouched down, shield at the ready, as was expected.

Alec continued on: "I hope you have a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon with Big Bang Shot at the ready, because otherwise I see no way for you to win this battle! Turn End."

Randall obviously wasn't defeated yet, he just had a minor setback. He drew his card and liked what he got.  
"I activate Double Summon to summon out a new Nuclear Monster: Lizard! Then, I'll tribute him to summon Nuclear Monster: Giant Lizard!"

The lizard, who was already huge by itself, turned even bigger, causing the Duel Disk holograms to zoom out, making Master Protector much smaller in comparison.

(Nuclear Monster: Giant Lizard: 3000 ATK, 0 DEF)

Randall explained: "When this monster attacks, it is turned to defense mode, and all battle damage done to this monster in Defense Position will be transferred to the player, too. But that's a small cost for the one attack that'll destroy you!"

"Destroy? Your monster doesn't even have enough attack points to attack!"

"He will once I activate this card!"

"... You're not telling me..."

"Yes! I activate Enemy Controller to turn your Master Protector in Attack Mode!"

Master Protector stood up, with no possible means of striking back.

**(Alec: 2500/Randall: 4000)**

"Giant Lizard! Attack!"

With no reverse card in place, Randall could do nothing but smile. Alec was a good enough opponent, just not ready to defeat Randall yet.

"Get ready to meet your maker!"

The Nuclear Monster got ready to attack. As by Skyscraper 3's effect, a coin was flipped. It was in Alec's advantage, but that didn't change the situation anyhow. As the HUGE giant Lizard readied his attack, there was nothing Alec could do to stop it. His Protector was gone.

Nuclear Monster Giant Lizard fired. Protector was destroyed.

**(Alec: 2500/Randall: 4000)**

Alec sighed in relief. "Thank God for Kuriboh."

Randall couldn't believe this. "KURIBOH?! Your inevitable defeat has been evaded by that little hairy puffball? Man, I hate that thing."

"Uh, Randall? It's not inevitable if I evaded it."

"Just shut up and draw! My Lizard turns to Defense Position, Turn End!"

Alec drew his next card. It wasn't anything to turn the tide with, but it could give him some breathing space. And that was exactly what he needed with the way this duel was going...

_To Be Continued._


	4. Chapter 4: The Obelisk Blue Student

**Author's Notes:**

_I apologize for this week's short chapter. I really had no idea how to add more into it, seeing that, if the duel would just have continued for a few turns, it would have just felt forced and boring. It'd be an endless back and forthing of cards like Dimension Wall, Negate Attack and so on. And that wouldn't even work due to the Nuclear Monsters' effect!_

_Reviews would be appreciated, but no biggie if you don't review :D Though if you find any mistakes in the duel, please don't hestitate to tell me about them!_

_Again, thanks to YamiRuss for pointing out a slight mistake!_

**  
Chapter 4: The Obelisk Blue Student.**

Alec began his next turn. "I set a monster face down. Turn end."

Randall was all but impressed. "You hád a chance to destroy my Lizard, but sure. I set Nuclear Monster: Giant Lizard back in Attack Mode. Lizard, attack!"

Alec's monster revealed itself to be Morphing Jar.

"Morphing Jar?!" Randall shouted.

Alec smiled. "When this card is flipped face-up, we both discard our hands and draw 5 new cards."  
They did so. Randall ended his turn. "No new monsters?" Alec noticed.  
"Not yet. Giant Lizard gets set in Defense Mode. Turn End."

Alec's turn.

He knew he had to find a way to bypass that monster and hit Randall's Life Points, otherwise he'd be done for. He could only stall an attack by Giant Lizard for so long. Just attacking Giant Lizard when he was in Defense Position was also not advisable: Randall would just summon a new one to stomp him, and then he'd have no chance anymore.

He still had a nice card in his hand that could put Randall in a disadvantage, but the monster would still be in the way. But hey, he didn't have much choice.

"I set a monster. Turn End."

Randall smiled. It was about time he took his rightful place in the Obelisk Blue dorm.  
"I set a card facedown, too. Also, I summon The Mindcontroller!"

(The Mindcontroller: 100 ATK, 100 DEF)

"With The Mindcontroller on the field, my Giant Lizard will gain an additional 500 Attack!"

"What the hell? Seriously, isn't 3000 attack enough?!"

"Not for me! In fact, we'll add 400 with it! I activate a Spell Card: Big Bang Shot!"

(Nuclear Monster Giant Lizard: 3900 ATK, 0 DEF)

"As everyone knows, Big Bang Shot gives a monster Piercing Damage. The difference between my monster's attack and your monster's defense will be subtracted from your Life Points! As would be expected, I set it back in Attack Mode. Now, attack his facedown!"

The lizard charged his beam again. It wouldn't be the definite attack, sure, but one direct attack from that thing and Alec was a goner.

Giant Lizard fired.

"My facedown is Armed Hero Reflect Knight! My monster may be defeated, but, like Magic Cylinder, your monster's attack will be subtracted from your Life Points! And what probably won't help you either is his other effect: the player who has this card cannot take Battle Damage from battles involving this card!"

Randall, yet again, couldn't believe it.

"What the FU-"

His curse got cut short by the giant beam of holographic light that beamed him down, leaving him with the last of his Life Points.

**(Alec: 2500, Randall: 100)**

The crowd cheered. Alec was certainly a formidable opponent to self-proclaimed Obelisk Blue student Randall. But it wasn't over yet...

"Lucky shot, Haven. Lucky shot."

"Nothing is luck when I'm involved."

Someone in the crowd shouted: "Will the duelists please refrain from engaging in dramatic converstation?"

Alec and Randall replied at the same time: "No!"

Even though they did stop the small talk.

Randall set his Lizard in Defense and ended his turn.

Alec drew his card. He knew that this was the break he had been waiting for. He didn't expect The Mindcontroller, which was completely open in all its weakness. He just had to summon a monster and order his monster to attack, and fwoosh. Obelisk Blue glory would be his part. He wouldn't be able to destroy the Giant Lizard anymore, anyway, so The Mindcontroller was his last chance.

"I summon Legend Hero Wizard of Flame!"

(Legend Hero Wizard of Flame: 1000 ATK, 500 DEF)

Randall started to understand the situation. "So, I guess you're gonna end this?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Wizard of Flame, attack!"

"Trap Card activate: Negate Attack! This will, as the name suggests, negate your attack!"

Alec was shocked. "You saw this coming?!"

"Of course I did. I know you."

And again, something clicked in Masaki and Lea's mind.  
Masaki: "They really DO know each other, huh?"  
"Looks like it." Lea replied.

Alec set a card. Turn End.  
Randall's turn.

"First, I'll set my Mindcontroller in Defense Mode and Giant Lizard in Attack!" I attack you with-"

"STOP! You won't be attacking anything! I activate another Trap: Mourning The Legend! This card forces you to skip your Battle Phase if I have 2 or more Legend Heroes in my Graveyard. Considering it happens before your monster attacks, the negating effect won't work!"

"My god, you thought this through, didn't you?"

"Yes. Yes I did."

"Very well, Turn End. Lizard's in Attack Mode, seeing as I didn't attack."

Alec thought again. With Wizard of Flame on the field, he really only needed one more card to ensure victory. A Trap Card: Infiltration of the Castle. It allowed a Legend Hero to attack directly during your opponent's turn if he attacked you, ignoring any Spell or Trap Cards at that point. Also, the Legend Hero wouldn't be destroyed. This came with the cost of reducing your Monster's attack to a rather low 20%, though.  
But 20% of 1000 was 200. More than enough.

Alec drew his card. He smiled.

"I set a card, and end my turn."

Randall looked at the set card. "I'm sure it won't be anything to save your hide this time, Haven.  
Now, Giant Lizard, this duel has taken way too long! Finish it!  
NUCLEAR BLAST!"

Coin toss time. If the coin landed in Randall's favor, Alec could say bye bye to his strategy...  
The coin flipped up.

...  
**Tails!** Wizard's Attack Points stayed the same!

The Giant Lizard fired his beam. Alec could only smile. This was the end.

"I activate my Trap Car-"

Randall laughed. "No you're not! Remember, my monster can negate and destroy all Spell and Trap Cards!"

Randall was right! Alec had completely forgotten it. His Infiltration went straight to his graveyard. There was nothing he could do anymore.

The beam hit him directly, right after his Wizard.

**(Alec: 0, Randall: 100)**

The Duel was over.

Samejima entered the arena.  
"And the winner, who will be promoted to Obelisk Blue is... Randall Gainsworth!"

Alec smiled and applauded, along with the rest of the crowd.

Masaki stared in disbelief: "Alec lost! Not only that, he made a mistake like that!"  
Lea just shook her head. "It just shows we're all human. Everybody makes mistakes, even top-class dueling-students."  
Masaki understood. "Right you are, Lea."

Half an hour later, Masaki and Lea met up with Randall and Alec at the Academy courtyard.

The pair congratulated Randall on his win, him already wearing his new Obelisk Blue coat. A real one, this time. Alec introduced them to him and vice versa, and after a while, the four were talking as if they had known each other for years.

Suddenly, Masaki remembered. "Hey, did you guys know each other from before Duel Academia?"  
Alec confirmed this. "Yes, we do!"  
Randall continued: "He's my brother. Sort of."

_Shock._

"But you guys aren't anything alike! Nor do you have the same last name!"

Randall continued: "I said SORT OF. I was adopted into Alec's family. I'm orphaned."

Masaki couldn't believe it. "My god, how come?"

Randall looked away. "I'd rather not talk about that. It's difficult for me."

Lea hit Masaki for being so insensitive. "You don't ask that sort of thing!"

Suddenly, the school bell rang. Classes were about to begin.

Alec ended the conversation: "C'mon, guys. We'd better hurry to our classes. Wouldn't want to be late at the start of our duelling career, would we?"

The four headed towards their classes. Their lives at Duel Academia had now officially begun.


	5. Chapter 5: According to Plan

**_Author's Notes_**

_This chapter marks the beginning of the Second Purge storyline. You can expect the story to turn a bit darker, because they'll be up against actual agressive people for a short while. I'm also glad I finally could give Masaki the little development I've been waiting for. Expect to see more stunts like these from him. Again, thanks for reading! I Hope I made the shift to a little darker style good enough!_

**Chapter 5: According To Plan**

It's been a few weeks since the opening ceremony. The students got used to the academy's usual rhythm, and everything was good...

**(Obelisk Blue Student: 4000/Osiris Red Student: 0)**

The Red student smacked to the ground.

"That'll teach you not to insult us!"

The group of Blues laughed at the sight of the Red who got up and ran away, far from the Blues.

"And don't show yourself in here again, or you'll be sorry!"

Alec, Randall, Lea and Masaki saw the scene while headed for the cafeteria.

They understood that this battle between ranks had been going on for at least a year now, when an Obelisk Blue student made himself into something equal to the king of the Duel Academy students, who managed to get the Blues to discriminate the other dorms, which in turn lead the Yellows to discriminate the Reds.  
It got out of control. It couldn't even be called bullying anymore. There was complete chaos in the school. Classes were frequently canceled due to the students getting into huge fights with each other, and there were always at least three people in the Academy's sick-room.

The students at the root of the problem were promptly expelled in an occurrence that was known by the students as 'The Purge', and hadn't been heard of since.

The atmosphere of animosity was down to a much lower level, but it wasn't gone. Not yet. In fact, the atmosphere was still generally hostile. Most of the dorm members couldn't get along with members from other dorms, without anything actually happening between them.

And then there were the 'Hunters'. These were the people who didn't just dislike the other dorms, they outright hated them, and actually caused problems to the other students. These problems included and weren't limited to severe beatings. The Hunters marked the return of the extremely hostile atmosphere before the Purge. While someone could have said "It's a miracle this hasn't turned into a full-scale dorm war yet," it started to look more and more like that the Hunters were after this exact thing.

Not much was known of them, not even identities. This was obvious, because if people knew who they were, they'd have been expelled a long time ago.

Randall brought up the issue. "The entire dorm-war thing is getting out of hand, guys."

Randall was fed up with it. The group was basically the only group of friends that went beyond the dorm borders, and every day they were greeted with glaring from the rest of the students.

Lea agreed. "You're right. This can't go on longer. Surely the dorms weren't made to be a source of hate?"

Masaki and Alec agreed with that.

Randall continued: "So we all agree that something needs to be done. But what can we do? I mean, it's not like we can just lure the Hunters out and ask them politely if they can stop what they're doing, or even turn themselves in to be expelled..."

And that was Masaki's cue. "I have a plan. It's a little basic right now, but we'll see what it turns out to be."

When Masaki explained his plan, the others were stupefied.

Alec shouted: "You call THAT basic?!"

Masaki was surprised. "You don't think so? Hm."

**4 PM**

The last class had just ended. Masaki was about to begin his little strategy.

A group of Ra Yellow students was talking with each other. Among these was Kyle, the student Alec befriended at the welcome dinner, and Egbert-Jan, the student Alec didn't befriend. Kyle was informed of Masaki's plan and made sure that everything went according to it.

Masaki walked past the Yellow students. It was at that exact moment that his phone rang. He stopped and answered it, right in the way of the Yellow students.

As expected, Egbert Jan responded to this.  
"Hey, Red scum! I suggest you move, or else I might be forced to do something we'd both regret! ...Except that I wouldn't regret it... But whatever!"

Obviously, he had a way with words.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!

… Yeah, their fried dumplings are the best!"

Egbert Jan got enraged.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

"I rather wouldn't."

"Very well, have it your way!"

Egbert Jan dashed forward and shoved Masaki out of the way. He fell, but didn't drop his cellphone. Egbert Jan spat on him. "This isn't over, Red scum. This isn't over."

The other Yellows walked past him. Some of them smirked at him. Kyle just looked at him, smiling.

Everything was according to plan.

**6 PM  
**  
The Ra Yellow dorm was having dinner. Kyle was sitting next to Egbert Jan. Both were silent. It wasn't long after Kyle decided to ask.

"What are you going to do to that Red student?"

"Why should I ask you? You're friends with that Red-sympathizer, aren't you? And that guy is part of his little clique, isn't he?"

"You're thinking into this way too much. You know as much as I do that even if I asked you out of worry for him, you know that there's nothing I could do. You're too smart for us."

The arrogant Dutch Yellow took this compliment.

"Heh, I guess you're right."

He glanced around him. The others around them were to busy with each other and their food to pay attention to the two.

"I'm gonna make sure a Hunter meets him tonight. He's gonna regret ever insulting me and the other Yellows!"

"A... Hunter?! Are you sure? Maybe he does need to be taught a lesson, but isn't sending a Hunter after him a little... too much?"

"I knew it! You're a Red sympathizer too, aren't you?!"

Suddenly, around him, there were a few people staring at them, hearing about another Red sympathizer. Alec Haven was bad enough already.

"No! I'm not saying that, but..."

"But WHAT, Kyle?"

"... Nothing. You're right."

"Thank you very much."

They continued eating.

A little while later, Kyle went into his dorm room. None of his roommates were there. He sent a video message.  
"Masaki. Everything is going according to plan."

This wasn't the only message Masaki received. The other was from an anonymous sender.

"Masaki. Meet me at the forest opening south of the Yellow dorm on 12 'o clock tonight. Come alone. If aren't there, or not alone, I suggest you pack your stuff tomorrow or something... bad... might happen."

Masaki could only grin.

**12 AM**

Masaki walked to the opening. Upon arriving, he noticed his opponent was already there, covered in a cloak. Masaki recognized the cloak. People could buy them at one of the school stores, and with a costumed party coming up soon, a lot of people had bought one of them, or a similar one.

To think what kind of chaos this Hunter business could become if every owner of one of those cloaks was a Hunter!

The Hunter spoke. "Masaki. You have angered the Hunters of Yellow with your actions! You are to leave the school, or else we will make sure that a great deal of... accidents will happen to you."

Masaki grinned again. "How about I make you a deal?"  
The Hunter thought about it for a while. "... Go on."

"We will duel. If you win, you may beat me up after this, and I will leave tomorrow."

"Heh. Sounds interesting."  
"And if you lose, you will meet with the Chancellor, admit that you are a Hunter, and leave the school yourself."  
The Hunter got his Duel Disk ready. "You're gonna have to defeat me first, Red. And considering your rank, I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon."

He accepted! Masaki knew this was the key moment. He had to win this duel, or else he could say goodbye to his plan, and the Academy!

**(Masaki: 4000/Hunter: 4000)**

"Better Duelists first. That would be me." Our Hunter took the first turn and drew his card.

"I'll summon Double Coston in Defense Mode!"

Two freaky grinning black ghosts entered the area. They hovered around each other.

(Double Coston: 1700 ATK, 1650 DEF)

"Turn End."

"My turn!" Masaki drew his card.

"This duel could take a maximum of... 2 turns. Including this one."  
"Five turns?! Don't make me laugh. That's impossible! Especially for a failure like you!"

"We'll see. I activate a couple of Spell Cards!

First, I activate a Field Spell: The Dark Sea! This card allows me to have infinite cards in my hand, doubles the amount of cards drawn if by an effect of a Darksea monster, _and _can negate a Darksea monster's destruction if I wanted to."

The entire field turned into a sea filled with black water and strange grins all over the place.

"Next, I activate Darksea Port! This card allows me to double the amount of cards drawn whenever I have to draw a card! Draw Phase, through an effect, you name it!"

The Hunter started to get impatient. "Who cares how much cards you draw?! Just get on with it!"

"In due time, friend. First, I want to activate ANOTHER Darksea Port!"

"For the love of God, I should just get over there and hit you!"

"Please don't. That wouldn't be good Duelist etiquette. Anyway, I summon a monster: Darksea Salvage Ship!

(Darksea Salvage Ship: 100 ATK, 100 DEF)

"What are you gonna do with that piece of crap?!"

"Draw cards. Whenever I take damage while Salvage Ship is on the field, I get to draw two cards. Double that. Double that again. Double _that_ yet again. 16 cards for every time I take damage."

"Hah! What use could drawing 16 cards possibly have... Unless..."

"That's right. I'm going to summon Exodia."

"You motherfucking..."

Masaki just smiled. "I'll set a Trap. I'll even tell you what it is. Solemn Wishes, to prevent you from being able to defeat me next turn."

"So... Whatever I do, I lose."

"That is correct."

"Then get a load of THIS!"

The Hunter threw off his Duel Disk and dashed forward. "Who needs dueling if I can just beat your ass anyway?!"

Masaki looked surprised. "Shit," he yelled, as the Hunter ran towards him. He ran away for a few steps, and then stopped and walked back again.

The Hunter was pinned down by Randall and Alec. He shouted out some random insults, but couldn't do a thing.  
"Masaki, you bastard! I told you to come alone!"  
"I did. They did, too. In fact, they were here a little earlier! Now, I don't suppose you would want to turn yourself in, do you? Well, here's the deal."

Masaki grabbed a camera from his bag. Alec ripped off the cloak's hood, giving the three view of the Hunter's identity.  
Alec commented. "My, my, Echbuhrrt Jhannn... Am I pronouncing that right?"

"NO YOU AREN'T, YOU ASSHOLE! Let me go!!"

Masaki took a picture and continued.  
"As I said, here's the deal. We have proof. We have three witnesses stating the exact same. We could take this case to the school court, and I can guarantee you'd lose. So either we do that, or you turn yourself in."  
"There's other Hunters... They'll take you guys down and cover for me..."

"And that's not gonna work either! Without any proof, they can't cover for you, and would instead be seen as co-conspirators, and eventually, Hunters as well! And don't tell me you don't know about the guard they keep stationed around the dorms and rooms of witnesses of cases of this caliber!"

"... Allright, I'll turn myself in. But trust me, the other Hunters will get you sympathizers!"

Masaki laughed. A bit maniacally, even. "Everything went according to plan! Now get out, Hunter. We'll miss you."

The once so proud Yellow student was nearly reduced to tears and ran away.  
"How did you know all these things about our school court and everything?" Alec asked.  
Masaki checked if Egbert Jan was gone already.

"We don't have a school court. Just the usual teacher-interrogation."

"And your first hand?" Randall wondered.  
"Orchestrated. With a deck in 60 cards, you need to be damn lucky to get that combo in one turn. He was to agitated to notice I never auto-shuffled it."

Alec looked at him. "Masaki, you're one creepy bastard."

"I know, isn't it great?"

Randall said "Well, I guess the plan is set in motion now, huh?"  
Masaki nodded. "Yup. The Yellow Hunters won't take kindly to this, and that's exactly what we want."


End file.
